Saintes in Winter

In winter (December, January and February), Saintes sees average daytime highs around 10°C and overnight lows near 4°C, with 208 mm of precipitation over about 33 wet days across the season. It is the coldest season of the year and the 2nd-wettest season.

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 10°C. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 20% of the time across winter, and the air most often feels dry.

Winter is Saintes's weakest season of the year to visit on our travel score. For the whole year in context, see Saintes's year-round climate.

Avg daytime high
10°C
coldest season of the year
Avg overnight low
4°C
Precipitation
208 mm
33 wet days
Avg wind
14 km/h
Travel score
2.3
weakest season of the year
Months
Dec · Jan · Feb

Temperature in Saintes in Winter

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Across winter, daytime highs hold fairly steady around 10°C.

A typical winter day in Saintes reaches about 10°C and drops to 4°C overnight. The warmest of the three months is February, the coolest February.

-5°10°15°20°DecJanFeb

How winter really feels in Saintes

Once humidity and wind are folded in, winter brings about 0 days that feel above 32°C and 28 that feel at or below 0°C.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C
0
heat index over the day's high
Days feeling ≤ C
28
wind chill below the day's low

The story in winter is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Saintes weather by month

How the three winter months (December, January and February) compare with the rest of the year — the season's months are highlighted.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan10° / 7311.28.92.0
Feb11° / 549.410.12.6
Mar14° / 5610.411.64.2
Apr17° / 6411.113.35.2
May20° / 11°6711.314.76.1
Jun24° / 14°538.515.47.0
Jul26° / 15°416.915.17.2
Aug26° / 15°457.113.97.2
Sep23° / 13°54812.37.1
Oct19° / 10°7411.210.75.7
Nov13° / 8012.19.33.5
Dec10° / 8112.18.52.3

Cloud cover in Winter

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 20% of the time across winter.

0%25%50%75%100%DecJanFeb

Chance of precipitation in Winter

Any precipitationSnow

Saintes gets around 208 mm of rain and snow over 33 wet days across winter. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

0%10%20%30%40%50%DecJanFeb

Humidity in Winter

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of winter feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

0%25%50%75%100%DecJanFeb

Wind in Winter

Winds average 14 km/h across winter.

05101520DecJanFeb

Sunrise & sunset in Winter

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 8 h 42 min in early December to 10 h 42 min by late February. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMDecJanFeb

Solar energy in Winter

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day across winter, about 1.6 kWh/m².

0123DecJanFeb
Planning a trip in winter

Is winter a good time to visit Saintes?

Our two travel scores rate winter for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal), averaged across the three months.

2.3
Sightseeing
4th-best month of the year
0.0
Beach & pool
4th-best month of the year

winter is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Saintes.

What to pack for Saintes in Winter

From winter's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In winter, Saintes sees daytime highs around 10°C and nights near 4°C. Pack a warm layer. Worth having: rain gear. About 33 days see rain.

a warm layerrain gear

Sea temperature near Saintes in Winter

The nearest coast averages about 11°C across winter — the other half of the beach question. The full-year curve and swim-comfort zones are below.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 40 km away) is warmest in August at about 21°C and coldest in February near 10°C.

It's comfortable for a long swim from Jul 19 to Aug 31 — about 1.4 months when the water holds above 20°C.

10°15°20°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbracingcoolrefreshing
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan11Bracing
Feb10Bracing
Mar11Bracing
Apr13Bracing
May15Cool
Jun18Cool
Jul20Refreshing
Aug21Refreshing
Sep19Cool
Oct17Cool
Nov15Bracing
Dec12Bracing

UV index in Saintes in Winter

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV across winter averages around 1. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Saintes peaks around July 19 at about 8 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near January 1 at about 1 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 7 months of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecLowModerateHighVery highModerateLowJul 19UV 8Jan 1UV 1
UV index (midday)Level
Jan1Low
Feb2Low
Mar4Moderate
Apr6High
May6High
Jun7Very high
Jul8Very high
Aug7Very high
Sep5Moderate
Oct3Moderate
Nov2Low
Dec1Low
Location & terrain

Where is Saintes?

Saintes sits at 45.7°N, 0.6°W, 26 m above sea level, in France. The nearest listed city is Cognac, 24 km away.

Topography around Saintes

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Saintes.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Saintes has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 68 m around an average of 26 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 109 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 242 m.

The land around Saintes is covered by trees (27%), artificial surfaces (27%) and grassland (26%) within 3 km, cropland (46%), trees (31%) and grassland (20%) within 16 km, and cropland (39%), trees (21%) and water (20%) within 80 km.

3 km
68 m
16 km
109 m
80 km
242 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswaterwetland
Winter weather nearby: Cognac 24 km · Royan 34 km · Rochefort 34 km · La Rochelle 61 km · Angoulême 62 km · Niort 65 km · Fontenay-le-Comte 81 km · Blanquefort 93 km

France travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type C / E
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 77% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$48,986
2025
Happiness
6.6 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
100%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
1.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
5.1
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
High
World Bank
English
Moderate
EF EPI 539
Religion
Roman Catholic 47%none 33%Muslim 4%Protestant 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Saintes (45.7474°, -0.6349°, elevation 26 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google.